# What is Cuban TWANG?



## neocacher (Feb 1, 2010)

I've recently smoked my first six Partagas Shorts after having smoked non-Cubans for many years. The Cubans have a certain taste and smell componant that is definately unique. I'm was curious to see how other cigar smokers would describe this "thing". So off I went to do some research. Here is some of the results. A few of these comments are quite amusing. Authors have been left out to protect the innocent! How would you describe "twang?" Whatever it is, that taste on my tongue and through my nose, the "buzz". I LIKE IT! - Cary-
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1.) Cuban cigars do have a unique flavor you'll only find in a Cuban cigar. This is often referred to as the Cuban "Twang" and I can recognize it when I smoke one but I can't describe it. The embargo definitely added to the mystique. Some are better than what you can get in the States and some are worse, most of that comes down to personal preference. Though in my opinion you haven't had a cigar until you've had a Cuban Partagas Serie D No. 4 that's been aged for a few years.

2.) "While I was in my smoking-alot-of-cubans phase, I noticed a particular taste that stood out that I really enjoyed but I couldn't exactly place it. After several weeks it hit me. It reminded me of the oral-anesthetic Anbesol. I know this sounds crazy, but I looked into it and found that Anbesol is Phenol based and Phenols are found in Cigar Tobacco. It seems, to me at least, that some Cuban leaf has a higher proportion of Phenols than alot of non-cuban leaf. But there are non-Cubans that I've found that have that same phenol punch or twang that I think some people are referring to. I find Oliva cigars to be consistently similar in flavor to those twangy cubans(Bolivar/Partagas), particularly the V Series and Cains which are both Nicaraguan Puros.


3.) The main difference in Cuban tobacco and all other tobacco is the nutrients in the soil. Cuba has very little if any magnesium in the soil.Many say this is why the Cuban twang is always present and the ash is charcoal gray to jet black. I prefer Habanos............... 

4.) OK guys here's another myth: the so-called "cuban twang". Doesn't exist, no such thing. In fact, folks who use the term can't even agree what it is! The term originated many moons ago on the older boards - ICG and CA. This was before cuban vendors realized the power of the internet and began advertising. At that time it was popular for those who could get Havanas to lord it over those who couldn't. They developed all kinds of sayings, rules, who was "allowed in" & other BS. If you played along and kissed their a$$, they'd toss you a bone and tell you how to get Havanas if you didn't know. (Thus the origination of my term habanos-nazis.

5.) I've always thought that Cuban "Twang" was the almost physics- defying, spicy expansion of smoke that fills the sinuses with every glorious puff!

6.) "A Cuban cigar is the wonder of the world. "One of the reasons why a Cuban cigar is great is because of the manure. When you hold a Montecristo No. 2 to your nose, you smell shit. That's what makes it great."

7.) Cuban twang is nothing more than too much acidity in the tobacco. it is connotatively referred to as "aspereza" in spanish - anything harsh or unrefined. However some people like it. One of the purposes of aging is to allow the acidity to dissapate, making way for more sophisticated, floral, sweet and savory flavors.


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## Rock31 (Sep 30, 2010)

It's delicious only made better if you're smoking one with Tony and he asks "is that cigar twanging your ass off"?


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## KcJason1 (Oct 20, 2010)

You know.. It taste like TWANG!!!


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## bdw1984 (May 6, 2009)

to me, it's an earthy, musty sweetness. hard to put words to it


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## Tritones (Jun 23, 2010)

In my admittedly limited experience, I lean somewhat towards No. 2 in your quotes. The thing that stands out to me in almost every Cuban cigar I've smoked is a core flavor of cream and leather, slightly minty, with a shade of either citrus, grass, or almost mustard tartness. I find some similar flavors in some NCs, but the difference for me is that the Cuban cream/leather/mint/(citrus,grass, or tart spice) tastes like a single flavor, bonded together. In the NCs they seem more like separate flavors. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it best describes how I've so far experienced "it."

Note: Any reference to actual Cuban cigars, living or cremated, is unintentional. No Cuban cigars were burned in the making of this thread. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect Cucan cigar consumption by any American citizen. :biggrin:


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## StogieNinja (Jul 29, 2009)

Mike, I do love your "disclosures" in each and every post!


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## Mr_mich (Sep 2, 2010)

This is starting to remind me of a diet Dr. Pepper commercial.

Any time now Paul Sr is going to come out and punch someone in the face for not being able to describe twang!


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## BMack (Dec 8, 2010)

It's really hard to put your finger on but you recognize the taste by the time you have 3-4 of them. 

Indonesian smokes are the same(not the flavor), they have this certain, indescribable flavor that you only find in other Indonesian tobacco.

I can best describe it as a chewy, fresh baked bread with a finish that has a hint of orange peel and almost a super mild alkaline twinge on your tongue(take a watch battery and touch it to your tongue)... which sounds like I'm crazy and just tossing out words.


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## mvorbrodt (Jan 13, 2010)

to me it's like i'm sipping on super light cappuccino with a hint of vanilla


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## astripp (Jan 12, 2011)

I consider the twang to be the citrus hit of CC. It is a lemon/grapefruit kind of citrus, with a punch. I've had softer lemon and lime in other cigars, but only on non CC I've had tasted of Cuban twang.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Interesting in that I have researched Cuban cigars quite a bit in search of that 'mysterious' taste that is different than NC's. #3 tends to give things a more physical composition of where the "twang" comes from and no doubt the soil and weather contribute to the overall taste in a good cuban cigar. Good seeds, good practice of tobacco selection along with how it is cured, stored and how well the tobacco is rolled. When you line up all of these variables you are going to get a good "twang" from any cigar.

The Cuban Cigar mystique is what fuels the debate and true aficionados don't care about the debate....they only care about the taste. I find that Cuban cigars offer me the best tasting cigars that are out there...that doesn't limit the fact that there aren't some great Non Cuban Cigars. They are doing something "right" in how everything is done in Cuba and it maybe as simple as them having more wisdom and 'secrets' than we know about...after all they have been doing this for along time and just like the wine aficionados who have handed down their way of making some of the best wines in the world you don't expect them to let their 'secrets' out...do ya?

Yes...in this day and age we have some pretty sensitive instruments that can tell us a lot about things..soil, measuring each step of the process of cultivation and curing and so forth...but at the end of the day you can't replicate what some have done over the years....Michaelangelo, Rembrandt, Mozart etc. Some things are 'special' and can be handed down from generation to generation with amazing results...you just can't take a scientific instrument and clone tobacco or else they'd be cloning CC's everywhere.


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## bpegler (Mar 30, 2006)

What Gary said ...


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Magnesium


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Herf N Turf said:


> Magnesium


Geneticist's Tutorial on Nutritioal Needs of Cigar Tobacco

Yep...tis part of the equation and after reading this link and almost having my eyes start to bleed from all the science going on...I can't help believe the old cigar blenders and manufacturers having a chuckle at the boys with all of their tools and charts....when it all it took was a chicken being thrown around ones shoulders and chanting some old cigar prayer.

I wish I could spend a few months on a cigar farm just to watch these people work in their craft and come up with their new blends. This would be like watching a famous painter do their work. You gotta figure that the more they love what they do the better the product and these guys devote their lives in this endeavor.


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## Tritones (Jun 23, 2010)

Herf N Turf said:


> Magnesium


I have a feeling this could join "bloom" as the universal answer ... :mischief:


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## tpharkman (Feb 20, 2010)

While in Vegas this winter I brought out some Party Serie D No. 4s for a customer of mine and I to enjoy. Twang as defined in his words after the second puff, "oh yeah now that is a fine cigar". 

To him, twang was the presence of something special that needed no further explanation. To me it is the element of citrus/fruit/floral that goes along with the other elements we are all familiar with like coffee, mocha, graham, vanilla, and chocolate etc.

It may be blasphemous to say but I don't find the same twang intensity throughout every cc. In some ccs twang has been very prevalent and with others it has been a slight background of the experience. IMHO all Partagas are twang heavy. On the other hand the Montes I have smoked are not as twangy. I love both...


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## swingerofbirches (Jan 12, 2010)

After I'd smoked a few CCs I tried to define for myself what "twang" is and at first I thought it was the citrus that I so love about CCs. But after smoking a few more and really focusing I decided that the "twang" is more of an acidic earthy taste that varies in weight and can almost border on acrid without being unpleasant (I think the acidic component is why I initially associated it with the citrus), which pairs very nicely with the citrus. 

I'm sure that i'm up my own @ss with this and that I'm over thinking it ... but that's what twang tastes like to me. 

At the end of the day (as per usual), Gary is right ... the single most important characteristic of a cigar isn't whether or not it has scientifically definable twang to it ... but rather that it's the best tasting cigar you can be smoking.


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## Barefoot (Jun 11, 2010)

I think I heard it here; Lick some butter and touch a d cell to your tongue = twang


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## Tritones (Jun 23, 2010)

Herf N Turf said:


> Magnesium


I presume you mean the particular flavor imparted to the leaves by the presence of this element in the soil, rather than the characteristics of burning this element displays:










Looks like plume to me.


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## APBTMarcel (Mar 9, 2011)

Always love your posts Cary keep up the good work, I have been curious about this topic as well.


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## swingerofbirches (Jan 12, 2010)

Tritones said:


> Looks like plume to me.


Nope ... that's definitely mold. Contact your vendor ...


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Rock31 said:


> It's delicious only made better if you're smoking one with Tony and he asks "is that cigar twanging your ass off"?


 Love ya RockMan always remember THE TWANG IS THE THANG!:thumb:
Look forward to smoking with you guys soon!:car:


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## sengjc (Nov 15, 2010)

BMack said:


> Indonesian smokes are the same(not the flavor), they have this certain, indescribable flavor that you only find in other Indonesian tobacco.


Agreed.

As for twang, I don't think it is any particular flavour to me, more like a nuance or sensation but with intensity enough to almost become like a flavour. I sometimes describe it as "nutmeggy" or "tangy".

It's like Japanese mayonnaise on fries, makes everything taste that much better, or ketchup if you please.


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## dav0 (Feb 7, 2011)

Herf N Turf said:


> Magnesium


or Lithium .. :smile:


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## BMack (Dec 8, 2010)

It's funny, no matter how we try none of us can describe the flavor. LOL.

Just wait until people start trying to describe the "Twinge" you get with Indonesian tobacco.


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## swingerofbirches (Jan 12, 2010)

The few Indonesian specimens have had a storng grassiness and very pungent tea flavor to them ... idk lol


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## bcannon87 (Sep 8, 2010)

In my very limited smokeage of CC the one flavor that i havent found in NCs is a some sort of citrus/creamy flavor. I enjoyed it throughly.


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## Stinkdyr (Jun 19, 2009)

I can't taste twang.......but cc's often give me flavors of: cream, wood, floral, caramel.


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